Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Bits & Bites

Clarks will open their fifth area location this coming Thursday, March 1st on the lower level of Cumberland Mall in Cobb county. Clarks, known for their popular Wallabees shoes, has existing area locations in Perimeter Mall in Dunwoody, Lenox Square in Buckhead, North Point Mall in
Alpharetta and at the Mall of Georgia in Buford.

Free People, which last year opened their first area location at Lenox Square, is adding a second location, this at White Provision on the Westiside.  The new store is scheduled to open March 23rd and joins Anthropologie which opened early last year in neighboring Westside Urban Market.  Both Free People and Anthropologie are divisions from Philadelphia-based Urban Outfitters.  

Virginia-based BGR : The Burger Joint is opening in place of the shuttered Doc Green's Gourmet Salads & Grill at Atlantic Station.  Brian Dralle, who last year opened a Which Wich franchise at Atlantic Station is opening BGR, saying he hopes to have it open by June.  BGR burgers are made of  “prime, dry-aged, all natural, hormone free, grain-fed beef" and come in a variety of sizes.  Additionally, there are other protein options such  turkey, lamb, tuna and lobster. The lamb and turkey options sound the most interesting to me though not offering a veggie burger seems like mistake. Thus far in Atlanta, Grindhouse Killer Burgers serves one of, if not the best turkey burger IMHO, whereas Latitude at Phipps serves a damn good lamb burger.  The concept of BGR seems interesting enough but I doubt it will do well at Atlantic Station.

Boardwalk Fresh Burgers & Fries closed their Sandy Springs location this past November but shockingly its now being reopened.  Located in one of the least visible corner spaces I've ever seen, Boardwalk's Sandy Springs location off Hammond Drive was previously operated by an Atlanta-based franchise group led by Michael Coles, founder of Great American Cookies and former C.E.O. of Caribou Coffee.  I'm not sure of the new ownership or if Boardwalk's Ansley Mall location is involved in any ownership changes. Personally, I think the joint should stick to to what they do best : fries. The Maryland-based chain was previously in Atlanta in the 90's with just their fresh fries and should have stuck with that in their return to Atlanta.  Simply put, their burgers suck.  Plans are to have the restaurant reopen this coming Thursday, the 1st. I wish the new ownership luck in Sandy Springs as the combination of a terrible location and an inferior menu item don't exactly spell success.  

I have a number of exciting new stories to share in the coming days including the return of DeathWatch!

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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Not offering a veggie burger is definitely a huge mistake. I for one won't be going to this place as a result, even though it's much closer to home than Grindhouse (either location) or Boardwalk.

Grindhouse's veggie burger is the best in town (their regular burgers are horrible though-- the greasiest I'd ever eaten).

Boardwalk's got a great veggie burger as well. I have not tried their regular burgers though.

Anonymous said...

Could I ask why you feel BGR will not do well in AS? I personally think it's one of the best restaurant additions to AS. Grab a burger before a movie. After a movie. A quick meal. I know many think Atlanta is overrun with burger places. I'm not one of those people - I believe in a market where the consumer votes with his or her wallet. Anyways, would love to read your thoughts as to why you think BGR won't do well. I know you are not a fan of AS, but surely that can't be your only reasoning. You have to admit traffic has picked up nicely at AS and there are many places, especially dining establishments that are quite busy. At least they're busy whenever I'm there...

mindspringyahoo said...

The days that I went to Boardwalk, the burger was pretty darn good. And the fries are great.

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